


No Place I'd Rather Be

by bonphantom21



Category: Alien vs Predator (2004)
Genre: Multi, Violence in first chapter, it's a Predator vs Alien story, so of course there's violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 20:58:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7948954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonphantom21/pseuds/bonphantom21
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years after the accident in Antarctica, Rayne thought she would never see him again. From her close encounter with the Queen, her body has changed. </p><p>Now, two new threats have emerged. </p><p>And one of them wants Rayne for himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Memories

**Author's Note:**

> I'm moving this story and the others onto my AO3 here seeing I never get on FF anymore.

_2 years after the Antarctic Expedition_

_October 31 st, 2014_

_Outside New York City_

_Sarquise Household_

 

Rayne looked at her computer again for the fifth time that night. God, how long had it been?   
  
Two years since that day.... The day that she, Lex, and a couple others had explored the pyramid... only for her and Lex to be the only ones that escaped with their lives intact. Well.... mostly intact.   
  
She reached down to touch the skin above her chest, to the jagged scar partly showing. She could still remember that day like it was just yesterday.

 _Rayne, Lex, and two Predators nicknamed Scar and Celtic by both women backed up in slight fear as the Queen had awoken and burst out of the ice, stalking toward them. They were in deep shit now._  
  
Scar rattled and Celtic answered roughly, as they got into a battle stance. Only to be smacked away by the bitch's long sharp bladed tail. Rayne hefted her combi stick, and snarled, “Hey, Bitch! Pick on someone your own size!”   
  
Lex screamed, “Rayne, watch out!” Rayne gasped, as the tail came at her, only for her to freeze in fear, before the tail sunk right through her shoulder, above her right breast, and through her back.   
  
White hot pain hit her, and she couldn't scream, as Scar had shoved a spear through the queen's crown frill, and pulled her away from Rayne. The Queen shrieked, and her tail swung, and Rayne flew off it and hit the rotting boards of the whaling station inn, falling through.   
  
Celtic roared, but Rayne couldn't hear him. She looked up at the falling snowflakes as Celtic rushed in and knelt beside her. “R-Rayne, Rayne, you must stay awake. Stay awake.” He pleaded, his beautiful Celtic green eyes wide and concerned.   
  
She looked over at him, and said weakly, “S-Sorry that I'm not a... warrior like you, Cel. I'm... weak... a pyode amedha like you told me..”

 _She took a harsh breath, and he chittered in worry. “M-di. No, you are not. You are brave. Strong. Warrior in own right!” She smiled weakly and reached out to touch his maskless face, her hands shivering with the cold, and numbness._  
  
“Have... I told you yet how much you really mean to me, Cel? Cause I really want you to-to know that I care f-for you. In the-the e-entire journey t-to the surface, I-I-I was fighting my feelings... knowing you would leave me to go to your homeworld... but I w-w-want you to know... I really love you. I don-don't care if you are a Predator or that you could kill me with a single swipe of your blades.... I love you...”   
  
Celtic's soft whine broke her heart, and he gripped her hand to his face with his own. “Stay with me, yeyinde! Be strong.” She couldn't hear anything else, before he said, “I love you, as well, Rayne.” Her vision had faded to black by the time he finished.

She was jerked out of her musings by her phone ringing, and she blinked away the faded vision, looking over at her phone. It was Lex, her best friend, and sister-in-arms, as they called each other. They had been through hell together.   
  
It was only fair. And they had been given the same mark of warriorhood. Rayne's had been on her left cheek, same with Lex's.   
  
She picked up the phone and asked, “'lo?”  
  
“Hey, hunny. How are you feeling?” She smiled, standing up to stretch and hold the phone to her ear. “I'm fine. Just reliving painful memories.”   
  
“You miss him a lot, don't you?” Rayne nodded, “Yeah if you remember me telling you, he was my first real crush.”

Lex smiled. “I know the feeling.” “You miss Scar?”  
  
“Yeah. Sometimes when I'm alone, I usually think about him... and how he's doing. Then I start thinking, was he infected? Did he live? Is he older now... And it all snowballs from there and I'm in tears by the time I remember that he's gone.”   
  
“I know. I catch myself thinking about Celtic too at times.” She went into the kitchen and then said, “Hey, you still on for dinner tonight?”   
  
“Yeah! We can watch a movie too, I'll bring a selection to watch. See ya, Hunt-Sister.”  
  
“You as well, Lex.” She hung up, and placed her cellphone in her pocket, as she looked through yellow pages to get dinner ordered.

* * *

 

Not high above Earth's clouds, a ship floated cloaked from the human eye.

  
Inside, a large dark brown leopard spotted male chittered low.   
  
“ **Khelt'ik, are you sure about this?** ” Said male looked over at his older brother, Sck'ahr, and then looked back at the Earth's surface.  
  
He nodded a moment later. He was certain.   
  
After they had been taken home, they had recovered, and gotten stronger. Bigger. Honored Elites.   
  
Celtic looked at his brother and said, “ **How do you fair, brother?** ” He knew his brother had been implanted with an egg, as the elder's had destroyed the chest burster before it could cause havoc on the ship.   
  
Scar nodded. “ **It no longer aches as badly. Only the thought of it hurts.** ” His pride had been bruised severely, by the thought of an embryo inside him. It enraged him. He was a warrior. A warrior never showed weakness.

Celtic nodded and said, “ **It is a blessing that the Elders gave us the permission to mate humans. Even if it took forever to get them on our side. Did you see the look on Elder Meh'ca's face when I showed him the footage of Rayne slaughtering 5 drones?** ”   
  
Scar laughed softly. “ **I thought he would make a scene.** ”  
  
“ **How do you think the women will act when we come back to them?** ”   
  
“ **Rayne will welcome you with open arms, pup. I know her personality. However.... Lex will not be so easily fooled. She probably suspects that I passed on.** ”   
  
Celtic thumped his older brother on the shoulder, and said, “ **Give it time, brother. She will come around. Now. Let us go. I cannot wait to see my soon-to-be mate.** ”

* * *

 

Rayne sat with Lex at the table as they talked, and she said, “You okay, Lex? In truth? I hate seeing you so sad.”   
  
Lex looked up from where she was playing with her Lo Mein noodles and nodded. “I'm just... thinking.” Rayne smiled sadly, “Scar?”   
  
Lex nodded. “Want to talk about it?”  
  
“Please. It's weighing on my mind.” She nodded, and moved her chair closer to Lex's, and said, “Tell me what's on your mind, sister.”

Lex sighed, pushing her food away, and turned toward her best friend. “I'm just... worried? I keep thinking of what happened to Scar...the queen stabbing him through the stomach... and I wonder if I had died... would he be sad if I died? Would he'd mourn the loss of a comrade like his own if it were me? Or would he'd cry?”  
  
“I don't know, but let me tell you, I would have!” Rayne smiled, and said, “While you two were busy beating the Queen's ass, I was busy telling Celtic how I felt about him. I'm pretty sure he responded before I had passed out. It's still kinda fuzzy.”   
  
Lex nodded. “When I got to you, you were alive but just barely. Celtic had done something to kick-start your healing. Somehow... he saved you.”   
  
Rayne leaned back in her chair, and said, “I mean... it's sorta weird. Considering all that's happened in the past year, it's probably 'cause of what he did. I'm seeing in a sorta sixth sense sort of vision, my hearing and smell are better than a normal human... I've had to clip my nails more than average cause I keep tearing things up, and every little noise makes me alert and focused. It's really weird.”  
  
“And these things are happening all because you touched something radioactive?” Lex asked, frowning.   
  
Rayne nodded. “Yeah. But I don't think it was the toxin. It may have been Celtic's doing. It may have been something he gave me... and in turn, the radioactive toxin had kicked it into doing something to me.”

Lex pondered for a moment before they both heard a knock, a rather loud one too. Rayne frowned, and stood up, speaking low. “Hold on.”   
  
She went into the living room, reached under her sofa, and grabbed her Combi-stick, pressing the button, extending it to its full length. She walked over to the door as someone knocked again, louder this time, and she looked out the peephole.  
  
 _Nothing there._   
  
She frowned. Is there was a kid playin' a prank this time of night she'd call the police, but she slowly opened the door to growl out, “Hey, kid, keep knocking on my door like that and I'll sic my hound after y-....”   
  
_No one was there_.  
  
Rayne frowned, looking around before she went to close the door, but it stopped, caught by some imaginary force.  
  
“The _pauk_...?” Rayne jerked the door, and then dropped her spear, moving her hand up, before her pinky touched warm scaled skin.   
  
_Scaled?_ Her head jerked up, and she sniffed, her whole body lighting up in flames as the smell of male hit her nose.....   
  
She knew this scent. The scent that drove away all her nightmares at a ghostly touch.    
  
Leather, heat, and male it could be described. She shivered.   
  
_“Celtic.”_

Celtic smirked behind his mask. She remembered his scent.  
  
He had smelled her protectiveness of her home and saw her drop the spear when he had grabbed the door to keep it from closing. Rayne stepped back and looked over at Lex with a warm gleam in her eye. "Guess who's back."

Lex stood from her seat at the table, food was forgotten as the door opened all the way, before closing. Two armed Predators decloaked, and stood in Rayne's living room, the same mesh, armor and weapons on their large muscled bodies.   
  
"S-Scar?!" Scar's mask dipped down to show he heard, as he spoke, "It is good to see you again, Lex."   
  
Rayne blinked, and said, "Oh my god. He actually speaks English."  
  
Scar chuckled, "Learned English while recovering." Lex rushed over and put a hand to his chest plate. "Are you okay?!"

Rayne smiled a little when her friend came up to him willingly. Her smile slipped a little when she felt a hand encircle her shoulder and pull her into a muscled chest. "Rayne..."   
  
"C-Celtic." Whoops, there went her ovaries with his voice. She looked up at him and reached up to touch his Celtic style mask. "H-Hey, big guy. How's life been treating you?" She heard a chitter behind the mask, and he said, "I have missed you."

Rayne blushed and said, "M-Me too, Cel."  
  
A hiss met her ears, and they both turned to see Scar take off his mask, and hook it to his belt, and smooth his claws over Lex's distraught face.   
  
"I am fine, Lex. No need to worry. I was barely alive when the Elder took us away, but I was fine. But there was a problem that I could not escape."

Rayne frowned in fear. "You were infected." Scar nodded.  
  
"Celtic told me that it had come out of my chest after we were in orbit...but it was different. We call it the _u'darahje_ \- a cross between a Yautja... and a _Kainde Amedha._ "  
  
Rayne trembled, and said, "The Predalien." Celtic looked down at his little female, and said, "Predalien?"  
  
"I've... seen it in my dreams. A hybrid of a Predator... and a Xenomorph."

She held onto his mesh, her hands and body trembling in fear. "But to know that a Yautja can become infected... it scares me."   
  
Celtic nodded, and held her close, leaning down to start purring. Rayne's shiver stopped, and she leaned against Celtic's stomach.  
  
Scar rumbled, and asked softly, "Rayne... did you grow?" Rayne tilted her head, and then nodded. "Three inches."   
  
Celtic hummed, "Three?"  
  
"Mhmm. I was five foot when I met you. Now I'm five three... Do you guys wanna sit? Tell us all that's happened while you were gone."

 


	2. Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn what happened with Scar and Celtic's younger brother

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: Now about Wolf, keep reminder that I've only seen tidbits of Requiem, but what I've seen of it, it seems that Wolf, to me, even as a veteran; he doesn't care whether the human race lives or dies. Having killed several people, and xenomorphs, He views Rayne as an abomination.

_**Chapter 2: Truth** _

Rayne got the two males a drink as she and Lex sat back down at the table. Celtic looked down at the drink he had been given, and said, "What is this?" "Oh, it's alcohol. Even though I'm underage, someone brought it over a week ago, and it's been in my fridge ever since. Drink all you want. I can't hold my liquor well." Scar opened his mouth, and seemed to inhale the scent, making a rumble. "Very weak in concentrate."

Lex laughed, and said, "What, you drink the hard stuff?" Celtic chittered in amusement. "Of course. Yautja Liquor is stronger than human alcohol. One drink and you're tipsy. More than three, and you're drunk off your ass."

Rayne snorted and choked on her chicken, where she had started eating again, and Lex smacked her back to dislodge the offender. "Oh my god, yes, I'd like to see that sometime!"

Rayne laughed tears in her eyes, as she fanned her face. Celtic laughed softly, and Rayne smiled. "Hey, Cel, why not let your mask off?" He rumbled. "I would rather keep it on." Scar chittered. "Only because you are fully blind in one eye, little brother."

Rayne frowned in concern. "Blind?"

"A hunt went awry. I let my guard down for a moment and the creature slashed at my face when I lost my mask. This is the third I've had made."

"Cel, please?" The male sighed, and then pulled out the tubes to the mask, pulling it off. One of his eyes was covered by a patch, and his one good eye was still green as Celtic grass.

Rayne's eyes warmed, and she scooted over to lean against his shoulder, patting his bicep. "There's that handsome face." His cheeks turned slight green with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Rayne, how is your scar?" Rayne looked down at her right shoulder where the Queen's tail had stabbed through and rubbed the scar lightly. "It's been two years, but it still aches, and I have to go to therapy in the mornings to get it back to the way it was. Whatever Celtic did helped the bones knit back together so I didn't have to have a brace on my shoulder." The air got tense when she said that. "What's going on, Guys?"

"Rayne... Celtic did something that almost cost him his honor with our clan."

Rayne looked up at Celtic as he sighed through his mouth, and said, "It's highly forbidden to our clan... I gave you some of my blood." She was quiet for a moment, and then said, "But... It helped me."

"Yes. But I am assuming at a price?" She blinked, and then said, "If... If you are talking about the heightened senses, and wicked claw growing..." Scar frowned, and said, "Heightened senses? Claws...May I see?"

Rayne nodded, and reached out with her hand to Scar, as he looked at her hands before he pricked her finger. "Ah, Careful Scar, Jesus!" Lex frowned, chastising the warrior before she saw the pale green blood drip from Rayne's hand.

"Holy... _shit_. It's... like yours."

"Diluted, yes. But Yautja blood all the same." The prick healed over, and she watched in awe. "So what... I'm a hybrid?"

"Yes... and no. Never has there been a Yautja-Human hybrid...until now." Rayne looked up at Celtic and said, "It's... It's okay. Cel. It was to save my life right?" He didn't look happy about it.

Lex sighed. "Alright, why are you guys here? There's gotta be a reason unless you are going through a Xenomorph trial again?"

" _M-di_. No. The Elder's had sent down a warrior before us, but he never reported back. We are here to investigate why he never did, and where he is. The last intermission we were given was this." Scar touched something on his computer, and a series of clicks, hisses, and Yautja language was heard before a screech, and then what Rayne heard next was something out of her worst nightmares.

A series of cracking noises, pained warbles, and a thud... until a gentle young clicking/screeing, before the transmission turned off. Rayne felt the blood drain from her face, and she started hyperventilating.

Lex covered her mouth, "It infected him. It's running around New York City's sewers! That's why people are disappearing!" Celtic looked down at his little female, and she was shaking violently.

"N-No. No..." Celtic moved his chair back, and pulled Rayne into his lap, holding her in his arms. She hid her face in his chest and started hiccuping. "No. No. I knew it. I knew it. It's after me. It's always me."

"It's not after you, Rayne! It's after anyone that gets in its way." Lex said, reaching out to rub her best friend's shoulder. Celtic nodded. "They live under a creed of death and killing. They do not go after one being. If one unfortunate being came across it, as Lex said the populace of the city is, then they would be killed, regardless of who they are and what they are."

That helped calm her down somewhat.

She nodded, and then said, "D-Does it help that there's a veteran male in the city now looking for it and the hive?" Scar growled.

Veteran male's, those that have seen many seasons of hunting, were on his 'Asshole' list, regardless of how high they were on the status ladder.

"What is he called?"

"Wolf."

Scar growled more angrily, and said, "That male.. will kill anyone who gets in his way. Unarmed or armed. _Pyode Amedha_ or _Kainde amedha,_ he doesn't care about the code of honor! And even with that..." He trailed off and looked at Rayne, "He will not let you live if he knows that you are a Hybrid."

Silence settled over the room, and Rayne said, "How would he know unless he draws my blood?"

"Scent. Scent is vital to us. We use other senses other than our vision when our masks are off, scent and hearing being just two of those things. If he smells your scent, as a veteran, he will know that you aren't fully human. But also we need to protect you from the Predalien."

Rayne looked down at the gently clawed hand of Celtic that was rubbing her shoulder, and said, "And Weyland."

"Your benefactor?"

"No. Remember, you killed Weyland 2 years ago when he attacked you with a make-shift flamethrower. He.. I think, Lex, didn't he have lung cancer?" She nodded.

"He kept coughing and breathing through a breather tube. He was real bad off."

"Well, the company went to his son, David Weyland, and he... he's been trying to get me to go on a date with him since he gained the position. His twisted and screw sense of thought has scared me. The thing is I know what he's hiding. He's been trying to replicate the same thing his father was doing. He is taking people and giving them to the Xenomorph's they have locked down.

He's shown me the cage they're locked down in." She shook her head. "I just want them dead and done with. Also, I think they found the dead Predator's remains and took his armor and gear. The only reason why I think I know is because I _work_ in the Chem Building. Glowing phosphorescent blood, similar to yours, came through just this week. I managed to steal a little bit of it in case you guys came back."

She wiggled off Celtic's lap and walked into her bedroom upstairs, coming back out with the vial, handing it to Celtic. Celtic moved to pop the cork off and sniffed. His eyes and mandibles flared in shock, and he said, "This... This is not the blood of a dead warrior. Brother."

Scar leaned over to take a whiff and then his worst fears were realized. "Oh, _Paya,_ no. That... is our younger brother's blood..."

Rayne looked at their faces and said, "Y-Younger brother?" "Yes, he has been - ah, human's term- MIA for 3 weeks with no coms. Our mother and father are worried sick. He had been on his _Chiva_ with his childhood friends when they went missing also."

"Then since you travel in groups of three... Three missing teenage hunters, five humans... Oh this isn't looking good."

* * *

Tol'tehk, young unblooded son of the honored female huntress Dhi'rauta, and the Elder Halkrath, had never felt so cold in his life.

And he'd been cold at several times in his youth, but this was bone freezing cold. He chittered before he went to lift his hand to his skin to warm himself.

Only he couldn't move.

He had been strapped down, as his golden brown eyes could see. He was mostly bare save for his loincloth. His armor had been stripped from him, and the mesh suit had been taken away. The wire mesh was their means of staying warm! He shivered again. At only 15 seasons old, he had been going through his _chiva_ with his friends, Bhu'ja and Kujhade. Where were they?

"Ah. It's awake!"

Tol'tehk looked up, and stared at the human before him, anger boiling underneath his skin. In his family, his hotheadedness was a trait from his mother, Dhi'rauta, as she was always in the fray of a battle.

"Oh. I know that look. You're angry, aren't you?"

Tol'tehk spoke not once, and the human male sighed. "Really, why be angry? We just want to learn from you."

" **Ello-sde' pauk, ooman.** " Tol'tehk was not known for his patience, nor his mercy.

"Alright, Alright. I'll leave. I won't be getting anything out of you today." As he left, Tol'tehk roared, in anger at him, bucking and straining at his restraints.

The human looked back. "Tranq him, please. His voice hurts my ears."

Then, everything went black.

* * *

Wolf looked down at the _kainde amedha_ he had killed and then scoffed. ' _ **Worthless. I've hunted bigger**_. _**No. My real trophy is the hybrid. The abomination that calls herself a warrior, and the kainde amedha-yautja cross breed. After I dispose of both of them, I will take them to the fires and smelt them both down. U'darahje like them do not deserve to live as they are.**_ '

He growled, and stalked back down the sewer tunnels. He had a Hunt to finish, and would not waste any time to dispatch of them.

May Cetanu have mercy on their souls when he found them.


	3. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares

_**Chapter 3: Nightmare** _

Later that night, Lex and Scar were bunking in the living room when Rayne wrapped her arms around her, hugging herself as she smiled. "Sorry about that, Scar. I don't have a lot of blankets, but the ones I do own are warm, so it works."

The Hunter put a hand on her head, and patted gently. "I have slept on harder things before. It will not bother me. And besides, Brother and I have things to discuss before we will sleep." The male's had taken off their armor to get comfortable before sleeping.

Rayne nodded, and then looked over at Lex who was out like a light. She smiled, and then said, "Alright. Night, guys."

"May Paya guide your dreams, Rayne." said Scar as Rayne giggled, and walked up the stairs to her room.

Celtic heard the door close a few minutes later, and he then looked down at the sat-com map of his gauntlet. He could see that there were several _kainde amedha_ , and the predalien was wondering around one special place.

Possibly the nest. Another few _kainde amedha_ vanished from the sat-com.

A blinking blue light appeared. Another Hunter.

Scar watched silently. "It's the other Hunter- Wolf." Celtic nodded. Yautja hunter's appeared in the maps with a blue light, humans were green, and the _kainde amedha_ were red.

' **What do you suppose we do, Brother? We will not be able to fight a seasoned warrior like him if he does go after Rayne.** ' asked Scar, looking at his younger brother with a calm gaze.

Celtic growled. ' **I will send him to Cetanu if he lays a claw on my mate. I have no intention to let him get within hearing distance of her. As you know, she cannot shield her scent like we are able to. He'd be able to sniff her down like a earth hound and kill her with one plasma caster hit.** ' The very thought of her dying made his blood run cold.

Scar put a rough hand on his little brother's shoulder, and said, ' **Do not worry. She will not come in contact with him. I swear upon my honor as a Hunter and a Warrior.** '

* * *

_She was running. From what, she didn't know. She didn't **want** to know. All she knew was that it was fast, foul smelling, and each time she rounded a corner, she could feel it breathing down her neck._

_No. She was strong. It would never get her!_

_She turned another corner, and froze in her tracks. Ahead of her, blocking the way, was a Hunter looking straight at her. Fuck. Fuck. **FUCK**. Blocked in!_

_She looked both ways, and then rushed to the right, finding it open._

_"Rayne! Rayne, where are you!?"_

_It was Celtic. Oh, Jesus, her hero, her savior. She tried to call out for him, to tell him that she was coming... but found that she couldn't talk._

_No. No this was a nightmare... but god it felt so real. She made it to a fourway in the tunnels and listened. "Rayne!" Left._

_She went left that moment, and kept running as she made it to a large opening in the dark pyramid. Celtic was being held by the Queen, as she got closer and closer to sinking her sharp inner mouth into his head._

_Rayne tried to go after him, but found that she couldn't move. She looked down at her feet, seeing the familiar black goo. It made chills run up her spine._

_She looked back up, and then yelled, finding the ability to scream, " **Celtic**!" But she was too late. The Queen's deadly inner mouth had pierced through his mask, into his skull, bright green blood flying everywhere._

_She screamed again, before she was grabbed, and pulled away from the queen only to be-_

She gasped in fright, eyes wildly looking around the room as she sat up in fear. Then at that next moment, her door was kicked in, and she squeaked as Celtic came in, wielding his blade gauntlets in full deadliness. "What happened?"

Rayne panted low, and she looked up at Celtic, as Scar looked around. "Nothing of harm here, and the window is locked."

"D-Don't worry, g-guys. I just... had a n-nightmare..."

Celtic let his blades retract, and looked at his brother, before Scar nodded, and left, closing the door behind him. Celtic came over to the bed, and sat down near Rayne. She was a little worried the bed wouldn't hold him, but it managed with just a groan, before it settled.

"What happened, _yeyinde_?" Rayne closed her eyes as Celtic's claws ran over her clan mark and the skin of her cheek.

"I... was running. I don't know from what. A hunter blocked off my way of escape... and I ran the other way. I heard you, and I wanted to call back to you, to let you know I was okay, but I needed you, but... I couldn't speak, it's like I wasn't allowed to. When I finally found you... th-th-the Queen had gotten to you first... was about to kill you... I tried to help... I couldn't move... I was too late.. she killed you."

Rayne's eyes welled up with tears, and she hiccuped. "I-I wanted to save you. I am so sorry.."

Celtic knew what nightmares were, even the bravest hunters had them, but he never experienced a nightmare where the one you loved was killed right in front of you.

He reached out to pull her to his chest, and hold her close as he laid down with her. The bed groaned in protest, but held, fortunately. He started purring to help calm her down, running his hand down her hair, comforting her.

"I am here. I will never die.. I am here for you."

Rayne laid her head against his chest, breathing in deeply to calm down. His purring was putting her to sleep, it was so comforting to her. She closed her eyes, curled up in her blanket and laying on his chest, a small smile on her lips.

In the quiet of the night, she could hear only the sound of his purring and his heartbeat and hers. "I love you, Cel..." In response, his purring grew louder and he nuzzled into her red hair, and spoked softly. "I love you too, Rayne."

* * *

Lex looked up at the quiet bedroom that Rayne and Celtic where, having been awoken by Rayne's terrified scream of Celtic's name. Scar was beside her on the floor, sharpening his Shuriken.

"I think that's the 3rd nightmare this week that's woken her up."

Scar looked over at the female on the futon, and said, "She has a lot of these often?" She nodded, curling up with the blanket as she sat up.

"Yeah, some of them are more... gruesome than others." She sighed, looking down at the floor. Scar tilted his head, and then put his shuriken away, to hold out his hand.

"Come here, Lex." His voice, while still rough, was soft enough to be called gentle. She moved off the futon, and went over to curl up against him. "Do you have nightmares also?" He asked, holding her close.

She nodded after a moment, and put a hand to his chest, where the round scar was. "Mostly about you dying. It always breaks my heart to remember you... on the snow, bleeding out. In pain. And to know you were infected... It hurts even more." She clenched her hand on his chest, shaking.

Scar held her closer, and said, "If it were not for the cold... I would've been killed a lot sooner." She closed her eyes, listening to his strong heartbeat to get herself to sleep. He was here... alive, and strong.

And if he could, he would stay here with her. Nothing would take him away from her now. And if any nightmares came knocking... Well he'd be ready with a combi-stick.

' _See if they get passed me_.' He thought with a vengeance, narrowing his gold eyes with determination.

Nightmares were overrated.


End file.
